NBA Rumors: Malone Rips Nuggets Team, Fultz Returns To Sixers & More

The NBA season is churning right along as we have passed the quarter-point of the season, and as such, teams are starting to solidify themselves as playoff contenders - or as some of the worst teams in the league. As such, the trade market is starting to heat up - specifically with DeAndre Jordan - while injuries are also starting to rack up for several teams. Here are all the latest news & rumors you need to know:

Mike Malone rips Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a solid 13-11 on the season but are just 3-9 on the road after last night's 123-114 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. After the game, head coach Mike Malone ripped into his team, saying they should "forget playoffs" and that he would make some changes to the starting lineup.

#Nuggets coach Michael Malone after Denver's loss to Pelicans to drop to 3-9 on the road: "Forget playoffs. That is a word we should not use with this team. Let’s just talk about being real honest -- we are a bad basketball team on the road."

#Nuggets coach Michael Malone: If the defense doesn't improve, "the same thing is going to keep happening. I’m not gonna play the same guys over and over...it’s not in my nature. I’m not gonna sit there and watch that much longer, I’ll tell you that much."

Markelle Fultz returns to 76ersPhiladelphia 76ers rookie Markelle Fultz has missed the last month and a half with a shoulder injury, and while he's still listed as "out," he has returned to the team, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Fultz traveled last week to receive physical therapy for soreness and scapular muscle imbalance with Dr. Ben Kibler, Medical Director of the Shoulder Center of Kentucky at the Lexington Clinic.

Brett Brown described Fultz's basketball activity at the Sixers' training complex on Wednesday as "minimal." The team announced on Nov. 19 he would be reevaluated in "approximately two to three weeks."

"We are just happy to have him back," Brown said after practice. "I felt like I haven't seen him in a long time."

Fultz, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, averaged 6.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 19.0 minutes in the first four games of the season before being sidelined with the injury.

Nerlens Noel hopes to return by trade deadline
Dallas Mavericks center Nerlens Noel has a torn ligament in his thumb and will miss the next four-to-six weeks, according to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.

Noel will fly from Boston to Cleveland on Thursday to meet with a hand specialist and will have surgery Friday, the Mavericks said. He will likely miss about four to six weeks, but the hope is that Noel will be back on the court before the trade deadline.

Noel, who has fallen out of Dallas' rotation this year, is averaging 4.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game this season.